For Americans behind bars, prison payphone calls don't come cheap

Logo of the United States Federal Communications Commission, used on their website and some publications since the early 2000s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After 10 Years of Delay, the FCC Begins to Address Unjust Phone Rates for Prisoners

By Rebecca J. Rosen

January 2, 2013
The Atlantic

For Americans behind bars, prison payphone calls don't come
cheap: Families -- who accept the calls collect -- can pay
rates up to 24 times as much as a normal call, sometimes as
much as $20 for just 15 minutes, though the charges vary
wildly state to state.

In 2003, Martha Wright-Reed filed a petition with the FCC
requesting that multiple long-distance carriers be allowed
to serve a given prison in the hope that greater competition
would bring down rates. On Christmas Eve a hopeful sign was
produced: a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking," the official
declaration of a the opening of a period for comment before
handing down a decision which will likely lower the rates -
at last. The  $1.2 billion market is dominated by only two
companies, both owned by private-equity firms.

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